Ukrainian parliament sees signs of high treason in Timoshenko's activity as premier

The Ukrainian parliament said there are signs of high treason in the activity of Yulia Timoshenko at the post of the country's prime minister

Share

1 pages in this article

Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

KIEV, March 20 (Itar-Tass) — The Ukrainian parliament said there are signs of high treason in the activity of Yulia Timoshenko at the post of the country's prime minister. The parliament passed this resolution on the strength of the report by an ad-hoc investigation commission /VSK/ to probe the circumstances of the signing of gas contracts between the Naftogaz Ukrainy company and Russia's Gazprom in 2009.

Presenting the report, chairwoman of the commission Inna Bogoslovskaya /Party of Regions/ stated that the VSK had ascertained such facts as Timoshenko's personal interest in signing "gas contracts" with the Russian Federation. According to Bogoslovskaya, the commission found that during the signing of the directives for the conclusion of gas contacts between Naftogaz and Gazprom, the prime minister, Yulia Timoshenko, concealed the fact of the outstanding debt of its private company Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine /UESU/ to the Russian Defense Ministry in the amount of 405 million dollars and the criminal case against her in Russia, in which Timoshenko's guilt in repeatedly giving bribes to Defense Ministry officials was proven.

Bogoslovskaya believes that "under the Code of Criminal Procedure, it implies that Timoshenko was found guilty, but exempted from serving a sentence in Russia."

Also, the VSK ascertained that Timoshenko had held secret talks with the Russian prime minister, during which she agreed to discriminating conditions of gas contracts. Timoshenko also unilaterally issued directives /for talks with the Russian Federation/ although such authority only belongs to the Cabinet, as collective body of the executive branch.

The commission found that Timoshenko had illegally put pressure on the head of Naftogaz's board of directors, who refused to sign the gas contracts under discriminating conditions, and forced him into signing them under the threat of dismissal.

It is planned that the commission will forward its report to the presidential administration, the Cabinet, the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Security Service for "appropriate response." It will also be sent to the Council of Europe, PACE and the secretaries general of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Earlier, Bogoslovskaya stated he was passing to the global community the information about the hallmarks of high treason in the activity of former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko.

"We'll request the Foreign Ministry for assistance in disseminating the report through diplomatic channels," Bogoslovskaya said.